


What Happened?

by Kawaii_Chibi_InuDemon



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Misunderstandings, Romance, Torment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 09:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27468607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kawaii_Chibi_InuDemon/pseuds/Kawaii_Chibi_InuDemon
Summary: Sam has left her home, her mother's expectations annoying her to the point that she just leaves, but it's not just her mother.... no, the love of her life is dating the one who tormented her all thru high school. With the help of her friend, Dean, she heads out to start over without the frustration of her mother hanging over her and without the pain of seeing Danny with Paulina. Yeah, it made her a coward, but she didn't think she could stand by without opening her mouth in anger or doing worse, causing their relationship to break over her past with the former Ice Queen of Casper High.
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Sam Manson
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

Sam had been feeling great, her life was on track the way she had always imagined it would be. She was out of high school and had moved far from her controlling mother. She had just turned 21 a few weeks ago and while it was a big time in her life she hadn't had anyone to spend it with. Sighing the Goth sat down on her couch. Yeah, life was great save for that one issue.

You're just overthinking this, she thought as she closed her eyes. Life was fine and so what if her friends were still back in Amity while she was miles away. Again a sigh escaped her lips. You could just call them. Again the voice in her head was right and she could just call them, but the issue was in Amity the pair of males were just as busy as they had been as teens. Danny was fighting ghosts while Tucker was running Amity. The population loved them and that was what had kept them there. The halfa wanted to stay in his hometown to protect it while Tucker loved the attention and he got plenty of it.

Opening her eyes she noticed the time on the wall clock that hung next to her large t.v., it's long elegant fingers pointing out that it was nearing nighttime, a time that was made for her. She had moved away and found the perfect job, though she didn't have to have a job...Wouldn't have to anyway had she done what her mother had wanted of her.

Marry someone and make me some grandbabies!

With a groan Sam gave her head a mental shake hoping to dispel the image and voice of her mother. The one person who had never been able to accept her for who she was. Not that her father was any better, but he hadn't been as stalkish as her mother was. The woman had followed her to school with dresses and telling others things that were none of their business in hopes that she would hang out with the popular crowd. As she had told Tucker that one year. Even though she had money she didn't want to be fake. She wanted to have real friends, not bought ones. Thinking of Tucker made her wonder about the man who couldn't stay with one woman...well, one who had wanted all the women in the world while none had seemed interested in him.

Deciding that it was better to get up and out of the house a little early instead of sitting in the living room thinking about a past that she had left just so she could escape her mother's claws she headed for her bedroom where she pulled out a rather scandalous outfit, the black number long enough to cover most of her upper legs, while still being skintight enough to show all that she had to offer. She wasn't doing it for others though. She was doing it for herself. She liked the feel of the clothing that seemed to cover very little, but was still modest enough that her goods weren't falling out in an outfit malfunction.

Pulling on her heeled boots she headed out, her door slamming shut behind her before she turned to lock it, only to find a note on the floor. Reaching down she noted that it was handwritten, though the handwriting wasn't one that she recognized. It had her name on it, while it had no other name on it. Like who had sent it to her. Looking around she found that she was alone in the hall so she ripped it open, another fancy sheet on the inside of it. The sheet was thick and ivory with fancy writing on the inside.

"I am invited to witness the coming together of..." she felt her fingers begin to shake, the piece of paper falling to the ground slowly as she felt her lips twitch. "...Tucker Foley and Valerie Grey..." Tucker was getting married?! That was something she had never expected of the man she had just been thinking about as unmarriageable material. Leaning down she took the paper back into her hands before shoving it into her small bag, the spider bag still part of her life, though it was a little more worn out as she had never stopped using it. Something to look at later. That was just another part of her past and she had just wanted to escape those thoughts that were bringing her down. With a shake of her head she headed off, her shoes making soft noises on the carpeted ground under her.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny looked at his friend with a smile that Tucker had found a woman, well, the one that had spurned him early on, dating Danny himself for a bit there, had given in and had found love with the techno-geek. It made sense since the pair of them were so alike when it came to their one passion... Electronics. He chuckled as he watched him talk to said woman on the phone.

He also felt a little jealous of the male before him, cooing into the phone and making the sickest comments that the halfa didn't want to see and so he walked away. He couldn't believe that his friend had found love with the most unlikeliest of people and that brought him to his problem. His mind was on the one person who wasn't with them. She had left to get away from her mother, or so she had she had said in her letter. That brought a scowl to his face, not that he wasn't already a little miffed, but the fact that she had left in the middle of the night as they had all slept. She had left that very night she had turned 18, only a few letters to him and Tucker to show for it.

I'm just so tired of being around my mother.

I need a new place to get out from her shade otherwise I can never be free of her.

Those words, though he knew to be true, were only a half truth. He didn't know why he felt that that was the case, but it was what he believed. He felt that Sam had run from Amity because of someone else, someone that she had liked. Yeah, he knew she had someone special in Amity, but he had never figured out who it was. Still didn't know, though Tucker had claimed that Danny knew who she liked. He could only think of people in his school, though none of them struck as the Goth's type. Not to him, but then again, he had believed that they would have made a perfect couple. It had taken him to long to figure it out and now she was gone. She left no address, though Danny wasn't surprised at that. Sam was known to do things like that when she wanted to be left alone and it seemed that she was doing just that.

Maybe that was the reason he felt that she was only giving him a part of the equation and not the whole thing. He needed to know how she felt and where she was so he could tell her his own feelings, but how to do that? Glancing down at the paper in his hands he knew it would have to wait as Tucker's wedding was this week, only a few days away anyway. Sam was more important, but she would be upset that not only did he come looking for her, but that he had failed to go to Tucker's wedding. His eyes widened for a moment and then he gave himself a mental shake. Tucker didn't know where she was so how could she know that their friend was tying the knot and she was going to miss it. Shoving the thought back in his mind he rushed off, back to his home.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sam shoved her bag into the trunk of a car days later, the next few days until Tucker got married. She wouldn't allow anyone to see her, but she would go and witness the event, though she knew she was taking a chance since Danny was bound to be there as Tucker was his friend too. She was only going because he was her friend and he hadn't done anything to upset her, though he had been rather upset with her and the action she had taken to remove herself from their hometown. Yeah, he had known what she was doing, but only because he had caught her that night as she had waited for her ride in the park. It was a strange thing to have happened when the techno-geek was not all that excited for outdoor breaks, but then again he hadn't been there for the night air either.

Flashback

Sam crept along the road, her backpack the only thing with her and one rolling suitcase. She hadn't taken any of the clothing in her room that night, only the purple bag that Danny had given her, the spider backpack worn and dull, but she loved it. In the suitcase was a whole bunch of mementos from her life, her journal, a scrapbook full of clippings, as well as a few photo albums among other things. She wasn't taking anything else with her. Clothing could be bought, her bank card from her inheritance with her, though she had already withdrawn enough funds to start her new life since she didn't want to leave a trail for them to follow her. As she had turned the corner toward the park she found a bench and after sitting down made a call.

"Dean? Hey, yeah, I'm just by the entrance to the no-" She stopped mid-sentence as she looked up to see Tucker and Valerie, both of them looking at her in surprise, but when she turned from them with only the words, "The north. Please hurry." Hanging up she stood to look at the two disheveled people before her. They didn't look guilty, though they were both flushed, but the look in their eyes asked her why she was out there. They approached her, the sound of an engine far away from them, but it was getting closer.

"What are you doing, Sam?" Tucker asked her, looking at the bag at her feet before returning his gaze to her. "Are you running away?" He almost looked like he wanted to laugh at those words because they were adults now.

"I'm leaving beca-"

"I know why you're leaving," Valerie said with a look to the techno-geek. "I can't say it's the right idea, but I get it." Sam nodded as the engine that had been in the distance now upon them, a motorcycle with a masculine figure pulling up. With a look, a look that asked for them to keep this secret, she turned away and headed for the bike. The male helped her to position the suitcase between them before they took off...

End of Flashback

He had kept her secret, as Danny had not come to her and while she had thought maybe for a second he wouldn't have if he knew anyway, she knew that was a lie. Danny had been pissed off when she had talked about leaving in the past, of the dreams that she wanted to achieve outside of Amity. While she had played with the idea of staying, the halfa had begun to date Paulina and Sam just couldn't deal with that so she had made the final decision to leave to protect him. 'And me.' Heading down the stairs of her loft. She glanced back at the gallery before her. She had done what she had yearned to do and had opened the gallery, aptly named 'Phantasm'.

"Hey, you ready to go?" came a male voice and she turned to see her only other friend and his wife. Dean took the bag from his wife, the woman before her pregnant, but not too far along. They kissed, the male before her pulling the small woman close in a hug. He pulled back and rubbed her slightly protruding stomach with a soft smile. Dean was a man that she had crushed on at one point, but he was at least five years ahead of her and had married his high school sweetheart. He had been her angel though, even his wife had become a part of her small circle of friends. They had come to her aid more times than she could count when Danny had been the topic of the heartache and so she could not go to him for someone to listen to her.

"Yeah, are you sure you should go?" she asked as she hugged his wife, Blossom. The other woman nodded as she gave her husband another kiss. Dean got in the driver seat and Sam joined him in the passenger side. They had decided just a few days ago that while she was gone that Blossom would run her gallery and Dean, he would go for assistance should it come down to that. Sam had chosen to be where she was and even though she was going back for her friend's wedding she wasn't staying. Even though she had only wanted Blossom to watch her place of business, Dean had been insistent that she was not to go alone so Blossom had pushed her husband to go with her, even though he had been thinking the same thing.

"Love you," he said to his wife before they took off down the road. It would take a at least one hour to get back to Amity. It was funny that even though she wanted to leave him to his own life she just couldn't go that far from her hometown. "We need a plan when we get there," he said with glance towards her. His green eyes were rather bright against his tan skin and the raven hair on his head was the same shade as hers. Some had thought them a cute couple, those who didn't know that he was married, but she had let them know since she felt a friendship and nothing more toward Dean.

"Yeah," she said. "We watch the ceremony and then we're out."


	3. Chapter 3

It of course only took that hour to get there, but Sam wasn't sure if she could keep herself hidden, when even if she checked into the hotel that was that exclusive and very private, there was a chance that someone like her parents would be sure to see her. They were always travelling though and the fact that she was going to check in under a false name there would be little chance that they would catch on. The car they were in was inconspicuous, a light blue Honda Insight and while it wasn't her kind of car, she knew that if she had driven up in an electronic car that she would stand out. Not to say that someone around the area wasn't into the same thing, but for her it would stick out. It was Dean's car, his raven hair fluttering slightly from the wind blowing into the small space.

"So, where is the hotel?" Smiling at him, she pointed down the street.

"Should be right down the street on the right. Phantom Paradise." He raised a brow, his green eyes curious. "I know, but it was the only one in the area that I know would be more secure and less likely that anyone I know would be, well, besides my parents." He nodded as he pulled up in front of the entrance of the rather nice looking hotel. It was a rather bright building, almost twenty stories high with its gleaming windows. On the curb was a male dressed in all white, while his vest was a deep blue. "Um, that's the valet." He chuckled. Just like the woman next to him to think of such a posh hideout. She didn't like her wealth and even then she had figured that no one would know her here. No, not from what he understood about Danny and Tucker, her friends that she had left behind, the pair hadn't even known she was rich until she had turned 15. Pulling her hat on, she climbed out as Dean followed suit.

"Do I need to gr-" She shook her head. No, they would get it all for her, not that they had much. Neither was planning to stay more than a few days and after the wedding on that third day, well, they were heading back. Nodding, he followed her in as the Goth in front of him watched for anyone she knew. She felt so guilty, acting so unlike herself with all the skulking about. She had hated leaving without a word to her friends, especially Danny, but she had really wanted to leave with her mother breathing down her neck about how she was going to be married off at the age of 18 to one her mother's friends' children. She was not an item to be sold and her mother knew that and yet the woman continued to do just that, act like she was some sort of property that she owned. While fuming she opened the door, Danny flying low overhead as he watched for any ghosts out and about. He noted that two people that he had never seen were entering the large hotel, the pair being dressed super casual for what he knew to be a more upscale establishment, but he ignored them.

They weren't ghosts and just because they were not dressed like one would expect to for a place such as Phantom Paradise, it was none of his business. As he was heading off, he thought he heard the name 'Sam' spoken in a male voice.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sam? You okay?" Dean asked, his hand coming down on her shoulder. She jerked to attention and realizing that she had stopped in the doorway when her eyes met those of a person that she knew all too well. Dean noted the tenseness of her body, the unease that was coming off of her in waves. Before her stood the one woman she hadn't wanted to see, the one that would spill her secret to Danny, her own teal eyes wide in shock. The male with her looked up to see what she was looking at, his own eyes narrowing as he moved to pull her next to him.

"Damn it," she muttered. She had forgotten that Paulina was rich. The other woman narrowed her own eyes, taking in the woman before her. She looked rather familiar to her, but she couldn't seem to place her and then suddenly she realized who she was looking at. Sam had matured, her body filling out in all the right places and while her clothing wasn't what the Goth had worn when she was younger, the former cheerleader knew it was her when she saw those eyes, amethyst orbs, looking back at her. Smirking she walked over to the woman she had called 'freak' for years.

"Samantha? Is that really you?" she inquired, her gaze turning to the dark haired male glaring daggers at her. "And who are you?" She was liking this hunk of a man before her, his green eyes staring her down. "You don't look like you two belong together, you know, with her being a fr-" His growl of warning cut her off as Sam tried to think of a way to get herself out of this mess. Danny would find out that she was here! Paulina may not like her, but she would do anything to make them fight as well. The halfa would have told the woman he was dating everything, the fact that Sam had snuck out and that he was ticked off with her. That would all benefit the woman before her.

"Not that it is any of your business, but my name is Dean and I suggest you remember," he spat. "You will find yourself six deep under if you insist on talking about Sam like that!" She took a step back, watching in fear as Sam whispered something to him, his eyes flashing at the woman before him. Oh, he was looking colder by the minute and the Latina knew that she was about to be reamed so before Dean could say anything she moved back further before rushing off into the crowd. The dark haired male turned to Sam with a look of concern.

"Welp, that plan worked sooooo well," she muttered just before heading forward. Maybe she could get to her room before he was alerted to her temporary place of residence. The woman behind the counter smiled, though it wasn't a relaxed smile. "Hi, um, Dean and Alex Castiel checking in." The woman's fingers moved quickly across the keyboard as she found them on the screen.

"Ah, yes, we have the room on the 15th floor ready for you," the woman stated before handing them each a key. Thanking her she yanked Dean down toward the elevator, unaware that Paulina was watching, her phone to her ear.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Danny was just about home when his cell buzzed in his pocket. Wondering if Tucker needed something or even his parents he was rather annoyed to see Paulina's name on the screen. 'She just can't let it go,' he thought, but he knew that if he didn't answer she would keep calling until he gave in. "Should have just shoved her into the Ghost Zone for time with her favorite artist," he muttered, but answered it. "What don't yo-" He stopped, his eyes narrowing with a flash of his power. "What do you mean?" Listening for a few minutes, he decided to ignore the woman on the phone, but he would still be on the alert. If Sam was indeed back in town he wanted to find her and talk, but it sounded a little fishy since Paulina liked to find a way to get him back to her bed. "Just stop calling me," he growled before hanging up and changing directions. If Sam was back in town, did that mean she was coming to the wedding? If that was indeed the case then that meant Tucker had been in contact with the missing Goth.

He didn't know if he should be relieved or ticked off that not only did Sam give their friend information to contact her while he was given no clue as to her whereabouts or if the fact that Tucker had not told him was worse... Another alert went off on his phone, a pic was sent to him and in that pic was the same pair of people he had seen enter the grand hotel. In that pic was a woman, though hidden under a hat while talking with the concierge, he could tell who she was, but the male that was with her... he didn't know who he was and the fact that he was right on top of the small woman made him growl. So she was back and she had brought another male with her. Had she met him wherever she had moved? Snarling once more he sped up. His friend was going to talk to him about this! There was no getting out of it!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Valerie and Tucker were sitting down in their main room, his spot on the couch filled with papers from work. Being a Mayor was hard work, but he loved it and even though quite a bit of it was paperwork, he didn't have to do it alone. Valerie was on the floor before him, papers organized on the coffee table before her.

"Yeah, this one doesn't sound like a gr-" Whoosh! All the papers flew as two pairs of eyes found themselves staring into a pair of cold green orbs. "Danny?" Tucker stood as Valerie moved to collect the papers that had fallen off the table. A warning growl was his response to Tucker.

"You know where she was," he spat, Valerie stopping what she was doing, her form frozen and with that Danny knew that not only did Tucker know, but his soon to be wife did too! The Goth and ghost fighter hadn't been the best of friends, but they got along pretty well... still it didn't make him any less upset that she knew too. "You both knew!" The techno-geek fell back with a sigh as his fiancée continued to pick up the mess while Danny glared down at them.

"I didn't know where she was at first," Tucker stated, looking rather upset himself. "I'm sorry man, but we were there the night she left town." Danny's eyes narrowed further as he de-transformed from the shock of what his friend of several years was telling him. "We were out in the park when she came past and sh-"

"She made you promise to lie to me?" he stated, the cold tint of his voice making the room feel cold, like they were in a cooler. In that moment he felt all of his anger dispatch, his body going lax as he sat down on the floor. His heart gave a twinge at the knowledge that she had wanted it to be kept from him, that she hadn't trusted him with the knowledge that she was leaving and to top it all off his friends had known for the last few years. "How?" He looked over at them. "How did you find out where she lived?"

"Her mother," Valerie stated. Her mother had known where she was too? The woman had told him she had no idea! "She hired an investigator to find Sam, but when she tried to contact Sam, well, you know Sam." Yeah, he thought he knew his best friend! He would never thought she would leave them behind without so much as a word. "She threatened to move again, further."

"Further?" he asked in confusion. Did that mean she was close?

"Yeah, she's only an hour north from here, but when Pamela thought that we could help she gave Tucker the information. It didn't help."

"Yeah," Tucker said with a shake of his head. "First off, when we called a male answered, and when I asked about Sam, he told me that she wasn't there and that she wanted to be left alone." The male on the phone... could he be the same man with her now? Was that her boyfriend? "She didn't call us back, but I went ahead and sent an invite to her. She did send a note back, but with instructions that she would not be there." He looked thoughtful as Danny thrust his phone at him, the pic of Sam with her unknown companion. "She's here?" Danny didn't say anything more, but they could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn't going to let her get away again, not if he could help it and with that he was gone.

"Do you think she's going to be happy when he shows up?" Valerie inquired. Truthfully Tucker didn't have an answer for that. Sam loved Danny, but she had run away from him. She had said it was because of her mother, but the pair of them had a feeling that her letter had been a half truth and that she had meant another woman, like Paulina, or maybe she had meant Danny. Who would want to watch the love of their life date the one woman that had tormented her for years?! Danny didn't know that either, but Tucker had sworn to keep that under his hat and Valerie herself had also witness the torment that the Latina inflicted on Sam. The only difference was at the time she hadn't been their friend so had not seen her getting involved a great move. Sam had hated her and would have hated her interference, not that Sam hadn't handled it well. The Goth had pushed it off and had ignored the other female's attempts to tick her off, though as they had gotten older it had become more violent.

Flash Back

Sam had been sitting at the table outside, the Goth having preferred to be outdoors, away from all the people inside, but she hadn't noticed that her enemy had found her, the Latina moving to stand behind her. Danny and Tucker had been inside getting food at that moment, the small teen having brought a salad from home. After the first two years of high school she had seemed to opt in bringing her own food so she wouldn't have to wait in line. Each year that had passed had only brought her closer and closer to screaming when she had to be around the other students in the crowded room.

Valerie had been sitting off by the window inside, her green eyes falling on the Goth sitting there alone. She had watched with shock as the other female came over and with a violent shove of Sam's head had knocked the girl into the hard wood table top. The Goth had quickly moved to look behind her, the bit of blood from the hit dripping down her forehead, but she had paid little heed as she ripped the other girl apart. Paulina hadn't seemed to care and when Danny had arrived immediately clung to him. He was Danny Phantom after all and she loved all the attention she received by dating him. Danny hadn't seemed to notice that Sam was hurt, but the Goth had already moved, something uttered to the group as Tucker followed her in concern.

It was then that Danny seemed to notice that his friends had left his side, but with a quick kiss the Latina had his attention again...

End of Flashback

She wasn't sure how Danny hadn't noticed that red mark on the pale skin of Sam, or the blood that had dripped down her face... hell, even when the pair had sat down he hadn't noticed the bit of blood on the light wood of the table. Shaking her head. Sam should have told him about his girlfriend, but Tucker had explained that when Danny was around Paulina he didn't seem to see anything. An infatuation that had his judgement clouded. Someone needed to say something to him now because when it came down to it, Danny was upset and without a good enough reason for her departure it would only do more harm to the relationship between the two people who were more close than most couples.

It was then a plan surfaced. Once Danny got to Sam, and he would, he would come back. Sam would send him off, there was no doubt about that and then she would tell the raven haired male about what his ex had done to the Goth for years.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny appeared before the hotel, his eyes narrowed at the thoughts of all his friends keeping the secret of his Goth friend from him. Sam, she was just as wrong for what she had done, but Tucker had seen how he had reacted to her leaving without a word. Just a damned letter was left to him with nothing but a few words to explain herself. He didn't believe those words and now that she was back, he was damned and determined to find out why she had really left him. Flying to the floor she was on he looked for where her room was, and while he hated that Paulina had given him that information he was glad that she had been paying attention enough to give him the floor. The Latina hadn't known what room they were in, but he would find it.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sam lay sleeping on the bed, her anxiety over the situation leading to Dean giving her a sleep aid. She hadn't been sleeping and while she hadn't said anything to him about it, it wasn't hard to tell with the dark circles under her eyes and the pallid of her skin. He was worried about her health concerning the halfa that she had told him about, but knew that no one could make the raven haired female do something she didn't want to. She wouldn't listen to him when he told her that even though Danny had been dating the other woman that she shouldn't reveal that said female had been threatening her. That as a friend she should tell him what the other woman was doing to her. Her response was still replaying in his head.

Flashback

Sam stood before Dean with a grimace as he waited for her to speak. It had been a few days since she had come into his home and while he and Blossom were happy to see her, they had yet to hear the reason that she had wanted to run away from her home, from her friends. Sure, she had told them a while back about how much her mother was pushing her toward a marriage with one of their own, but both of them also knew about her feelings for her halfa friend. They had seen in the news about the male in question and knew that he was a great guy, a little clueless, but otherwise an upstanding person all around. Like the family and friends of Danny, they too saw that the pair were made for each other and even though Sam had never expressed his feelings towards her, saying that her friend was into one girl that had tormented her, they knew something had forced her hand. Had it gotten worse? The girl had gotten more violent, they were sure about that, but Sam had never told them all that she had done to her.

"What happened?" Dean asked. Blossom sat behind him on the couch, worry clear in her eyes.

"I told you," she said with a sigh, shuttering her gaze to keep him from seeing the pain that had been reflecting in them. "My mo-" He stopped her, pushing her into the chair behind her to the surprise of both the Goth and his wife.

"No, Sam," he said, his brows coming down in frustration with the woman before him. "You told us part of the problem. We know there is something more to this and if you don't tell me what it is I will call Danny and I will tell him where you are." She paled at his threat. Would he really do that? He could see the question in her eyes, even as she tried to hide it from his gaze. "I would hate to go that route, Sam, but you are hurting him with what you're doing. Does he deserve to be without his friend because of some unknown reason?"

"Fine," she muttered, turning away from him. "I left because of her, Paulina." Was he right? Had the girlfriend to the halfa tried to harm her? "I know what you're thinking, and yes, she did do something, but it wasn't what made me leave." She sighed, her eyes closing for a moment, as if she were thinking on how to word what she wanted to say, how much of it she wanted to reveal.

"Tell us," Blossom said softly. "Don't hide from us. We're your friends and would do anything to protect you fro-"

"She threatened to reveal my feelings to him, but again, not the complete reason for my exit from Amity." She was being so vague, as if she didn't want to utter the reason as to why she had left and while she obviously didn't want to talk about it, he could see the tears in her eyes. "She said she was-s...pregnant." Pregnant? She left because of that? "She said that if she told him that she would leave after dropping such a bomb, using my feelings as the reason that he would hate me." She looked at them now, the pain so clear in her amethyst gaze. "He would never gotten to see his child because of me and that, that was something I could never do to him. He deserves to be with the one he loves and with her carrying his child," she paused, her heart breaking with the knowledge that she was not the one pregnant by his side and that she had to move away from him, not that she hadn't thought of doing so after the Latina had dropped that bomb. She would never have been allowed to stay by his side, not with how Paulina felt about her and not watching him raise a family with the other woman.

"There is more to that story," Dean said, his own heart breaking for his friend, his wife reaching for his hands as they waited.

"Yeah, when after telling me this she again told me to leave, to stay away from him," she responded. "I did just that, but Danny, Danny didn't stay away from me, no matter how much I pushed him away." She chuckled. "It seemed that he was upset with me for pushing him away and like always, he didn't take that rejection very well, not from me anyway."

"You've always been close, so why would he?" Dean asked, pointing out what she herself had been worried about after the confrontation with the Latina.

"I was stupid," she muttered. "I thought that eventually he would give up and there wasn't much I could do until I turned eighteen, ya know? Hell, he could come into my home without my consent anyway, so how was I to keep him away." The next part came as a shock, to Sam when it had happened, and to the pair staring at her, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Paulina's family is rich like mine, but she used it in ways that not even my family would do. She put a hit out on me."

"What?!" the pair cried out, anger coursing thru Dean's veins like a bucket of ice had been transfused into him.

"I was walking to the Goth bookstore that I loved so much. I thought as it was night that no one would bother me. Paulina was hanging out at Danny's house with him and Tucker was with Valerie so I was alone. It happened just as I turned the corner. A car came flying by, the shots that were fired hitting the wall behind me... and some did manage to hit me..."

"But I didn't see an-" She cut him off as she removed the hoodie she was wearing and you could now see the bandages on her right arm. There was a faint coloring of red on them, but there were at least three of them.

"They weren't the best at their job," she stated, moving her shirt up to show more of the spots where she had been hit. "I was lucky. One of my Goth peers saw what happened and called for help." She chuckled again, dark like before. "While in the hospital that night, I told my parents that I didn't want to be seen by anyone, not even Danny. I knew he would find out. He always does." Silence as she pulled her shirt back on, the hoodie following. "He did try to come and see me the next day, but no one would let him in. Sure, he tried to come thru the walls, but we had bodyguards that were posted with ghost weapons. I didn't want him hurt, but I didn't want him in there either. It would only end bad for both of us."

"Because of Dan, right?" She nodded. "Paulina didn't know about that though, did she?" Sam shook her head.

End of Flashback

Sam knew that it wasn't a one time thing, a threat that the Latina would follow thru with it if she needed to and so she had left them behind. He wondered if she would try again. If she would see Sam being here as another threat to their relationship. The woman didn't look like she had a child, not that he could tell since he had never met her before, but with Sam's reaction to seeing the other woman he knew that she still remembered that. It was a fear that Sam didn't show to anyone. She had never been afraid of anything, not even when she had been harmed, but when it came to the male she loved she wasn't one to play with the thought. She refused to allow him to be hurt, even if that meant she had to hurt him in a different way. One that she saw as a safe hurt. One that she believed he would get over. She would rather he not ever want to talk to her than become what she had seen in that future so long ago.

The room grew colder, the woman on the bed shuddering in her sleep. Dean knew from what Sam had said that it could only be a ghost or it was the one person she was trying to stay hidden from. Turning toward the door he found himself looking at Danny, the other male looking rather irked with what he was looking at before he scowled. "Who are you?" he asked, his tone hard.

"Dean," he said with a glance toward Sam, looking back at Danny a moment later. "And you are Danny, the halfa that is friends with Sam." It wasn't a question and the halfa in question found his temper flaring at how the male was acting. He was acting so friendly towards someone he knew very little about, save for the fact that he was with Sam, a woman who had left him behind to be with Dean. "Now, if you don't mind," the dark haired male stated as he stood to walk over to the halfa. "She needs her sleep and we need to talk."

"I'm no-"

"As I know you are rather close to her, and I know you care about her, you do know how she is when she doesn't get her sleep and I don't want to be on the receiving end of her temper any more than I am sure you do." Still scowling he took one look at the woman sleeping behind Dean before disappearing from the room, the door opening seconds later with Dean heading past him. "There are a few things that we need to discuss when it comes to her and her leaving Amity." It was all he said as he continued down the hall. As torn as Danny was with leaving Sam behind he chose to follow the other male, grumbling something dark under his breath as he de-transformed.

"So, you know the reason she left," he muttered.

"Yeah, and as much as I disagree with how she did it, I can see some of the reasoning behind it." That didn't help how the halfa felt about the male talking to him, but the next thing said made him wonder how much or in this case, how little he knew about what Sam's life had become while he had dated Paulina. "Anyone would run away when faced with death, but then again, knowing what would happen to you if that happened..." He left it open, knowing that Danny would put some of it together.

"Dan." Dean nodded.

"She didn't want that for you and I'm sure you would never have wanted her harmed, even if the person who was trying to kill her had not known what dire consequences were to come from their actions." He sighed. "Not that she cared about such things."

"She? She who?" Had a ghost been targeting Sam? Was it Dan again? He shook his head at that thought. The other male was locked away, never to be seen again.

"Oh, you know her and she's not a ghost, but since it's not my place to give you all that Sam has disclosed to me, I can't tell you all that much." Danny growled a warning at the other male's refusal to tell him what had been attempting to kill the Goth. "I'm sure that no one knew what was happening with that attack, not even Tucker or his soon to be wife, Valerie." This man knew a lot about them, but Danny couldn't figure out where this was going. He was feeling more rage and worry at all the unanswered questions. "Hell, I had to threaten Sam to even get her to give us the reason she had run away. She's never been one to run from problems, not even with her mother in the equation." That's what he had thought too. That the reason she had given them had not been the truth or at least not all of it, but then he realized that Dean had said something curious.

"Us?" Looking surprised for a moment, he remembered that Sam hadn't really told Danny about him or his wife.

"My wife and me." Danny stopped mid-step. This guy wasn't Sam's boyfriend or lover? "Sam and I have been friends for a while, well, long distance friends since we were babes." At the perplexed look on Danny's face he continued. "We met when her mother was having little playdates. We were probably six or so when we were first placed together, not that I liked her like that, but she was like me. Both of us are the black sheep in our family and we both refused to be like our parents wanted. I didn't want to be rich and Sam felt the same way."

"How come I never heard of you?"

"Sam isn't one to divulge such information," was his response. "She doesn't talk much about her family, except when they tick her off." This was true. He had not known that Sam was rich in the beginning, never allowed over to her house, but this guy had. He was part of that circle. "We were both like that though. We stayed friends and when her mother set her up with one boy after another I was there to kick their asses if they ever stepped out of line and believe me," he growled. "Even as kids those fuckers were mean. She could handle herself pretty well though. Sent them home to their mothers with more scrapes on them than she had. Her mother stopped doing it after a few years, but by that time we were separated. My parents moved to California and Sam had you, so I knew she would be okay." Danny wanted to ask more from him, but Dean continued, "Sam has had to deal with a lot of shit, but so have you and yet, she seems to keep going with you at her side. When she came to me with this new issue I told her to come back, even after the attack, to tell you what was going on, but she refused."

"Why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Because it had to deal with you."


	5. Chapter 5

Danny was left in the hallway, Dean having told him that Sam was indeed coming to the wedding, but would only stay to watch Tucker get married and nothing more before she left again. He couldn't let her leave again, but he had to figure out the puzzle that lay before him. With all that Dean had told him he now had more of a picture of why Sam had left all that time ago, but there were still things missing.

"Because it had to deal with you."

Had she been mad at him for something? Sure, she hadn't been to happy with him dating Paulina, but she had not said a word to him about it. She had continued to hang out with him, but other than that nothing jumped out at him. Maybe he could get another person's view on this. Flying off he headed back to Tucker and Valerie's home, that phrase screaming at him in his head. How could it have been him that made her leave? It didn't take long for him to get back to where he had come from, but before he could say a word Valerie spoke.

"So, you talked to her?" He shook his head. Her brow rose at this. "Why? Did you even see her?"

"She was asleep." Tucker looked at his soon to be wife. He knew that meant Danny had avoided talking to her for fear she would eat him alive. The Goth wasn't one that liked to be awoken, but why had he been gone for so long? "I talked to the guy in the pic that Paulina sent me."

"Paulina sent that pic? Why would you even listen to her?" Tucker inquired. He had been sure that when Danny had broken up with the Latina last year that he would steer clear of the crazy bitch. She had only wanted Danny for his popularity, something he and Sam had both pointed out, but the halfa had refused to believe. "Hell, with that shit she pulled, I'm surprised you didn't send her to the Zone."

"You will," Valerie said softly. Tucker shot her a look while Danny raised a brow now. "Trust me, Danny. When you find out what we know about your ex, you will want to send her to the Far Frozen for the rest of her natural life."

"I'm sure that no one knew what was happening with that attack, not even Tucker or his soon to be wife, Valerie."

"It's so strange that you would say that, because Dean said the same thing." He explained who he was talking about and then proceeded to explain the whole story that he had learned from said man. "He seemed to think that I would know who he was talking about, but I still ca-"

"Paulina," Tucker and Valerie said in unison.

"Paulina?" Now he was confused. He knew that the bitch was cold after she had killed the child in her womb. It hadn't been his, but he had still found her behaviour cold and then he had found out that she had been on the pill. She hadn't wanted to have children and with the fact that she would soon find a rich man to marry, she wouldn't want to ruin her body. It wasn't just the fact that she had cheated on him or the baby itself, but her reasoning for all of it. She hadn't planned on staying with him forever, just use him and move on.

"She would have placed a hit on Sam after all that she was doing to her in school," Valerie stated, her anger rising at the thought that the Latina had gone further in her attempts to keep Danny and Sam apart. She had the male that she wanted, but she also wanted to hurt the one that had not cowed down before her. "I know you never saw it, but then again you were too busy sucking face to see all the violence that Paulina liked to inflict on Sam."

"What?" He looked to Tucker, hoping that Valerie was lying to him, but his friend nodded. It was true. Sam had been hiding it and in turn Tucker had kept it to himself.

"She didn't want to cause you any issues and Danny, it would have only made it worse."

"I could have he-"

"Would you have really believed her when she had no way to prove it?" Danny thought back to it and regretfully he wouldn't have really known who to believe at that point, but he felt sure that he would have listened to what she said and in that he could have tried to find out what was truth and lie. "You know that Sam would never lie about something like that," Valerie pointed out. "I may not have been her best friend, but I still knew that Sam was a straight up person when it came to that kind of stuff and she wasn't even one to spill it either. She kept that kind of shit close to her chest." She then told him what she had witness long before she had hung out with their group. Danny could remember that time. He had been walking over to join his friends, but Paulina had kissed him and he had forgotten to ask what had happened.

"I went to help bandage her up, but she just warned me to keep it under my hat and that she didn't need help with such a small wound. I thought it was rather strange that she seemed to blow off such a strike, but if that was just the tip of the iceberg than that attack on her that night was the monster lurking under the waters."

"I have to find out what happened before she leaves again!" He went to get up, but Tucker stopped him.

"Give her time to sleep and then go there tonight and talk to her. With how Sam is I doubt she would be happy to be woken up to talk about something I am sure she didn't want anyone to find out." The halfa wanted to bite his friend's head off, but he also knew that Tucker was right. Sam wouldn't just rip into him, no, she would lock him out again and possibly this time for good. Nodding he sat back down as the group talked about what they would do with all this information and how to go about talking to her about what had happened. The pair wouldn't go with Danny, but he needed a plan and they were the two people that could help him.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Goth in question awoke several hours later to find Dean looking rather apprehensive. Raising a brow she asked, "What's up with you?" He shot her a look, a look that she knew all too well. He was hiding something or was he waiting for so- "Dean, did you do something?"

"More like... we had a guest today," he muttered. He knew that he did the right thing, but Sam was going to be ticked off with him and while he loved her like a sister she wasn't one to get on the wrong side of. She would either run again or beat the shit out of him and neither one of those options sounded good right now. Her face fell, the fear in her eyes and the way her body stiffened told him she had an idea of who it was. "I told him that you were asleep and while he didn't want to leave, especially knowing how yo-" She jumped up, her sudden motion throwing him back a step in surprise. She didn't say a word to him, her movements quick as she headed for the door. He was turning to stop her when Danny appeared again, the Goth cussing as she backed up from her destination.

"God fucking damn it! Dean!" she yelled as she looked over at him. "This is why I didn't want to come!" Danny frowned at her as she scrambled back to the bed, the sheets flying up as she leaned against the window behind the bed. "Danny! Get the fuck out of my room!" He wanted to yell at her, but that anger in her eyes was overshadowed by the fear as she tried to remove herself from his space. If Paulina had been the one to attack her then it made no sense as to why she was looking so afraid with said woman not in the room. He took another step toward her, Dean taking a step to the side. "You mother fuckers! God! I can't even expect my friend to be on my side after w-" She stopped, refusing to spit out the words that had come to mind. She wouldn't tell Danny what had happened! Never!

"I have an idea of what you were going to say," Danny said, her attention on him at those words. She glowered at him and then turned to throw a cold glare at her other friend. "He didn't tell me what happened, but I gathered it from what little he did tell me and from our friends." She hissed at him as he drew nearer.

"So help me, if either of you even touch me I will fuck you the hell up!" It was a threat and while Dean looked unsure Danny didn't. He knew that she would do what she promised, but at the same time he felt that she was just trying to scare them away from her. It wasn't going to work on him. He wouldn't step back and the look in his eyes told her that. "Don't think I won't castrate you, Danny." She was like a scared cat that was spitting to warn the enemy that it wasn't happy with it, but there were no claws for it to defend itself.

"Sam, I'm sorry that I never no-"

"I don't blame you for that!" she spat back. "I don't want to talk about anything else, so get the fuck out of my room!" He shook his head. "Why do you continue to do this shit?! I just want to be left alone!" She looked at Dean now. "When this is all said and done I will be getting on a flight far away from anyone!" Dean blanched at her words. That was his worry to begin with, but with her looking at him Danny took a jump at the distracted woman. His body hit hers and pushing off the window they landed with a heap on her unmade bed. As soon as the shock wore off from his attack she began to struggle. "Let me go!" He held her tight, all the ghost fighting making him stronger and able to keep her close to his body. He could feel the heat coming off of her and the fear that seemed to mix with her anger until she finally burst. "You're going to kill me!" He almost released her with that cry, but he tightened back up on her.

"No I'm not and no one is going to hurt you, Sam, I won't let them."

"You can't protect me every second!" she spat. "You can't stop what will happen if you stay around me!" He was so angry at Paulina for what had happened to Sam, but the fact that she had managed to turn his friend against him in such a way was a blow that he had never seen coming.

"Sam, I can take care of her. Pau-"

"What about your child?!" she cried out now, his words cut off with the knowledge that she knew about that unfortunate information. It seemed that she knew she had struck a nerve, but it wasn't what she thought it was. "You wouldn't get to see your child!" A sad smile came to his lips and with a subtle move he leaned over and kissed her neck. The woman in his arms stiffened at the contact, going silent in his arms as he continued to kiss her neck several more times.

"There is no child, Sam." Her head turned slightly to try and look at him. "There was one, but it wasn't even mine." She still said nothing. Dean listened to the other male as he continued, sitting down on the edge of the bed as he watched all the different looks that passed over Sam's pale features. "She was cheating on me, hell, she wasn't planning on staying with me for very long." Tears began to form in her amethyst orbs. "Sam, I was wrong. I didn't love her."

"W-What?" she managed to stutter out.

"I thought that I loved her, but I wasn't really. It was more apparent when I found out and I didn't feel anything. I was mad at her for what she had done, but I was more mad and hurt that you had left than anything." She sucked in a harsh breath at his words. "I had feelings for you, but was afraid that it wasn't anything more than a crush and even then it would be wrong for me to try to take anything from you more than our friendship."

"Danny? What are you saying?" Dean also wanted to know, but he had a feeling that the young raven haired male was confessing his love for the woman in his arms. Would she accept it? He kissed her neck again, goosebumps rising on her flesh.

"I know you're not that clueless, Sam." She wanted to smack him for that comment, but all that came out was a soft chuckle. "I was and hell, I still have my moments." He chuckled now, his hot breath tickling her ear. "Blame it on my father." Dean stood up now, looking down at the pair that had seemed to have forgotten he was even there, and walked toward the door silently. Happy that his friend had finally gotten the one man she loved. He was sure that she would be okay and if she wasn't then he would be waiting outside to find out what had happened, while he filled his wife in on what was happening with the Goth that had been in their care. "I'm saying that I love you, Sam. I love you more than a friend is supposed to love another, but I do and I want to be with you." She stiffened again, the thought that while he said he loved her that she wasn't a safe person to be around. He turned her around, still under her as he pulled her close to him, their lips touching briefly. When he pulled back he found her looking rather dazed, her cheeks flushed. "Do you want to give us a chance?" It seemed that his words brought back those thoughts that had left her mind upon their kiss.

She really wanted to be with him, to give him children and to be by his side for the rest of their life, but could she really risk his very life. "Danny, I love you, but I can't do it, not wi-" He kissed her again, his hands moving up her body and tangling in her hair. She couldn't fight it, the feelings that swirled in her belly at his touch and his kisses were driving all the concerns out the window. When he pulled back, he smiled up at her.

"She won't be able to get to you with where she is now." She blinked at him before the male before her pulled her back down for another kiss as she clung to him. She could trust him. She could allow him to be by her side and that no one could harm either of them. He turned her over, the Goth now under him as he moved his hands down her body, his lips moving to nip at her neck. She could do this with him by her side, no matter what life threw at them. With a slight whoosh of cold he was before her as his human half, not even breaking contact with his lips on her neck. She moaned when his fingers brushed against the sides of her breasts. "What do you say now, Sam?" he whispered against her collarbone.

"Yeeeees," she groaned out as his lower body rubbed against hers. Smirking he made her clothing intangible as he went further down, his lips leaving a wet trail down her pale skin with a few licks of his tongue. She arched into his touch, her soft sounds the only sound in the room.


	6. Chapter 6

When Dean came back into the room he had to smile at the sight of Sam and Danny cuddling together, the halfa wrapped around the small Goth as if protecting her. He knew that he couldn't leave Sam yet though. While she had finally accepted Danny's love, she was still on edge and he was sure that the halfa knew that as well. Sam wasn't one to just let something go, not when she still held fear and uncertainty in her heart. She loved the raven haired male, but she was still hurting over what had been done to her because of his own cluelessness. As for the one that had placed a hit on her alive and able to strike again. Hell, he didn't know if the hit was still active or not. Giving them one more look he headed toward the other room in the suite, unaware that Sam was still awake and was thinking along those same lines.

While Danny had promised that Paulina was out of the picture and unable to harm her, that couldn't be a certainty with the person who had tried to gun her down that night so long ago. While it had been years, there was no telling what had happened in regards to that, so moving Danny's arm off of her she headed off to the bathroom. Glancing back at the sleeping male she pondered as to what she should do now. He loved her and while she loved him, she couldn't allow him to be given that future that had been shown to them all that time ago. She still had nightmares about that time, Dan hoovering over her with his red eyes filled with murder. Danny would never be that person if she could help it. Sighing she entered the large space before closing the door. It only took a few minutes and a quick call to find the Goth sneaking out of the building and into a dark car waiting for her at the curb. While it was still light outside, she knew that in few more hours that darkness would fall and by that time she needed to be out of the city. While she didn't know where she would go, she knew that it needed to be somewhere far away from anyone that knew her name.

What she failed to know was that she was being followed, the car that moved forward from the shadows keeping close enough not to lose her, but far enough not to be noticed by the paranoid female. "Where to?" the driver asked a few moments later.

"The airport," she said before glancing behind her. She felt like she was being followed and while the car behind her switched lanes and another took its spot, she felt little ease in being away from the safety of the room. Before she could turn around though, the car behind her shifted and the car that was tailing her slammed into the bumper of her car. Sam was thrown forward as the driver cussed, trying to pull over, but at her cry of warning he shifted again to keep moving. "Speed up, please." He looked at her in the rearview mirror, uncertainty in his gaze. "That wasn't an accident."

"What?" He seemed to think she was lying, but when the car slammed into them again he realized that she was correct in her statement and tried to speed away from the car that seemed to speed up with them. He asked no questions as she buckled up, fear making her eyes huge at the realization that she had been right and wrong all at the same time. Running would do no go with the person trying to kill her on her tail and that being back at the hotel had been a better option. She should have stayed with the two males, at least until after the wedding, but then again, she might have put Dean in danger as well. This person had been waiting for her, had known she was in the hotel. She reached down to her bag, and then seemed to change her mind as the car struck them for the final time as they were thrown into the car in front, her body falling forward before another car hit them from the side and then all was dark, her last thoughts of Danny.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The halfa in question was just waking up, his mind instantly coming alert when he noted that he was alone in the bed. Reaching over he felt the side of her bed, the sheets still warm. He looked around, thinking maybe she had gone to the bathroom when his hands found a note halfway under the blankets. Cursing he pulled it out while getting up. "Fuck," he muttered, knowing without even looking at the words on the page that she had run again! Skimming the few words she had chosen to write he found that he was right. "God damn it, Sam!"

His voice must have been loud enough because Dean came rushing into the room, his green eyes wide as he took note of the angry halfa and the missing Goth. "She did it again." It wasn't a question for the other male. He knew that she would run when given the chance, he had just assumed that she wouldn't have done it with either of them awake and yet, he hadn't heard her leave. Danny scowled, wondering where she would run to now when a knock came at the door. Dean went to answer the door only to find a police officer on the other side. The halfa blanched at their appearance while Dean allowed them into the room, his own face ashen. If there was an officer there without a call from them, then that only meant that they had bad news.

"Hi, my name is Officer Fang," the young male said, his brown eyes looking at both males with pity while his hand raked thru his blond locks. "I am looking for Danny Fenton." The halfa stood, his eyes narrowed at the male before him. "We have a Samantha Manson in our custody."

"She's okay?" he asked, wondering why Sam was in the custody of the police.

"She's alive, but I can't say that she's okay since she took a rather nasty hit to the head after a car attempted to run her off the road, but she is being watched by one of our officers at the hospital." He pulled out a notepad. "Her driver gave us an idea that she was being followed, her words, and that when the car struck him the second time he knew that he needed to call for help. Unfortunately, he was not quick enough when they were struck again and while he is alive, he knows nothing more about why she was being pursued." Dean looked to Danny, knowing that he probably knew more than the halfa in this.

"She had a hit on her," Dean stated. Danny was shocked, though he had a little knowledge that Sam was worried about Paulina attempting to harm her. Sure, Valerie and Tucker had used the same word, but even halfa had been a little skeptical about there being a hit on Sam. Hits were done by the mob and their town was too small for such a thing. "About four years ago she was gunned down while out walking to her favorite bookstore." As he explained this Danny's mind kept going back to that day that he had heard she was in the hospital. He had thought it was out of place for a drive-by in their town, but no one would tell him anything, save for Sam had been attacked, but not much more and that the Goth in question wanted everyone to leave her alone... even him. If he had known that it truly hadn't been a one time thing, but something that could happen again with her in town, he would done something more than just throw the Latina in the Ghost Zone.

"We got the man who hit her, but with a hit, well, there are more waiting to complete it." Sam would never be safe, not until it was called off. The officer stated all that he knew about such cases and with that Danny headed off into the darkness of the night to his family home. There was only one thing to do and that was to get his ex to lift the hit. Dean watched him go and after getting more information on the new attack, headed for the hospital to check on the Goth.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Entering his home and heading for the Ghost Zone, Danny made a plan that if Paulina refused to take the hit off of Sam he could still manage to get it removed with just one man at his side. Though the male ghost had caused past chaos, the ghost was likely to assist him as he was one of the few ghosts that wasn't out to get him. With that in mind he headed off into the glowing green and purple of the Ghost Zone off to where he had left the Latina in the hands of Klemper. It didn't take him long to find the large ghost, the sound of his cries for a friend echoing clearly.

What he came upon had the halfa laughing as Paulina was standing encased in ice with just her head free to cry out in frustration and fear. When she saw him, her eyes grew wide with fear and a little bit of relief. "Not here to free you, not just yet, Paulina." Her eyes started tearing up.

"Danny! Please, you can't leave me here with this!" Klemper turned to him, and Danny just shook his head.

"You have to call of this hit that you placed on Sam," was his simple response, to which her eyes narrowed. Oh, this was going to take a bit of persuasion.

"She deserves to die!" the Latina spat. "She's a nobody!" His own eyes narrowed. "She belittled me in school!"

"You weren't a great person, Paulina, just a bitch that Sam wasn't afraid to speak her mind about and you proved it all to be true, but I could just leave you here."

"Then how would you save the freak?!" His eyes flashed blue as more of the ice from Klemper's attack moved up her neck now, her eyes growing wide.

"I don't really need you, as much as you like to think that I do, but I am giving you a chance. You don't deserve such niceties, but here I am trying to not become what you are pushing me into." Her brow rose at his riddle. "Oh, I forgot, you didn't get to die at the hands of my evil side, the one that came out because of a certain Goth dying." That seemed to get her thinking, weighing out her options. "And know this, Paulina, if Sam does die your death won't be quick or painless." She looked at Klemper. "Worse than what you have been dealing with in here." He moved closer to her prone form, not close enough to touch her. "I will enjoy torturing you with not only my ghostly wail, but ripping your body apart... limb by limb with only my ice to keep you alive for several days worth of torture at the hands of ones like Klemper here and perhaps even the Warden." When the Latina noted the wince from the other ghost she finally relented.

Danny didn't release her from the ice though as he grabbed her and drug her out of the Ghost Zone.


	7. Chapter 7

While Danny was dealing with the woman responsible for it all, for Sam disappearing to where she lay now, Dean sat by the bedside of his friend with his wife on the phone. She was worried, terrified and blaming herself for not thinking about that a hit could still be on the small woman. "None of us even thought of there still being someone out there, waiting for her to come back." Sam hadn't said anything about her feelings on the matter, but then again Sam was never one to voice such things unless she were truly sure that anyone, let alone close friends, would be in danger. He knew that if she had been aware that after several years of being scarce that someone could target her again, she would never would have let him come with her to this town. She would have braved it alone, taking the trip without telling them.

He looked at the bed, worried with how pale the Goth looked, her skin so light that even the white sheets that covered her prone form were dark in comparison. He knew she would pull thru though. Sam had just found the love of her life again, his own love shining thru, and she wouldn't want to leave him behind... not with the possibility of him coming the male that the Goth had told him about. Dark Dan. The man that had been her halfa after her death. She had been sure that while she had been part of the reason, that his parents death had played a bigger part, but Dean was sure that it had more to do with her. She had stuck with him thru it all, had been able to break the spell he had been under when Freakshow had tried to make him kill her. The male had been able to do bodily harm to all but Sam. Her cries of terror and fear making the halfa's eyes open to what he had been doing. Dean reached out and took her cool hand.

He hoped that Danny was having luck with his ex and the hit, because if there was even a chance that she could come back after the Goth then Sam would do what she had been out doing... she would run from them all. She would be alone in the world, staying clear of anyone and anything. No one would know if she lived or died and that, Dean knew, would cause what she hadn't even thought with her own beliefs on Dan. Hell, he had been surprised that Danny hadn't changed into Dark Dan when Sam had not returned to their town after all the years she stayed gone, but then again she had been alive and while the halfa hadn't known that for sure, there was a chance that like Sam, he knew that she was okay. That was more proof the pair belonged together and for it to take as long as it had made him sad. Sam deserved to be happy, after all the shit she had dealt with growing up to finding love that she had never thought she would get to enjoy... Danny was a good kid, clueless, but a good kid.

"You know he loves you," Dean said softly. "Running away would have solved nothing, but to cause him and you heartache. I don't understand why you would want to do that to either of you." The air grew colder, the hair on his arms rising with the temperature drop, but Dean didn't seem to notice as he rubbed his thumb over Sam's pale skin. "I always told you that you were so stupid when it came to talking about how you feel, not that you weren't outspoken at certain times, but damn it, Sam, you were just being stupid in not telling him all that had happened to you." Danny stood there in the shadows, listening to the other male spell out what the Goth had been thru. He had found out a bit from all of them, but nothing concrete about the rest of the story. "The first time that she grew violent towards you, you should have said something, anything, to let him know what was going on." He shook his head. "You're just a big heart. No brains. You fail to think about yourself and when that happens you don't realize all the pain that you cause by just keeping it in and not just to him, but to yourself."

"She's always been that way," the halfa stated, his hand coming to rest on her covered feet. Dean jumped, turning to look at the other male in surprise. "Can't say that I'm not mad when she does that, but I figured that one day she would realize that I would never want her hurt. I would have thrown Paulina to the side or at least ripped into her, if I had known, but she never said anything and Tucker kept his mouth zipped." He moved to the other side of the bed, a small stool his seat, but he didn't sit. He looked down at her, the hand that had been on her foot coming out to touch her cheek. "I love her no matter what she does, hell, if she had made it out of her tonight I would never had slept. I would have been chasing her until the day that I died." Danny sat down now, his hand falling to his side even as his other hand grasped her hand. Both men sat there, each holding her hands.

"The bitch?" Dean asked.

"Frozen, but the hit has been called off and now she awaits in the Ghost Zone." Dean raised a brow at that. "Not that prison wasn't the best choice, but with the Warden of the Ghost Zone's only prison, she will never be allowed out. She will be there for the rest of her days." He smiled sadly. "Couldn't trust our justice system with keeping her from coming back, ya know?" The other male nodded. Just because she had attempted to murder another individual, her money could allow her to be free or they could believe any lie that left her mouth. She would never learn, that solidified after her words to him in the Ghost Zone. He never liked being the bad guy, but when it came to Sam and her life, well, he couldn't allow anyone to harm her. "What did the doctors say?"

"She took a rather hard strike to the right side of her head," Dean said, the bandage wrapped around her head showing a bit of blood on the side indicated. "But, they believe that she will be okay with no internal bleeding, but they won't know the state of her mind until she wakes up." How long would that take? He would love her no matter what state her mind was in, but he wanted her to be healthy and for him that was the most important thing. Sam was strong and wouldn't just lay down and die, no, she was stronger than that and with that thought he leaned over and kissed her hand. Though her skin was cool to the touch, it wasn't cold and that gave him faith that she would be just fine.

Hours later found Dean asleep in the chair, but Danny couldn't take his eyes off of Sam, the color of her skin having become less pale as the hours had passed, but she still hadn't woken up, not that he believed she would just pop up... well, maybe he had. She was one to prove that she was okay, even if she wasn't feeling the greatest at that moment. "Sam," he murmured softly, his thumb brushing the top of her hand as he spoke. "I love you. I could never live without you, even after you had left me I still looked for you. I looked for you around the town and in the small cities outside of it. It was as if I could still feel you close by and while I couldn't seem to locate you, I knew you were alive and that you were safe, but I wanted you by my side." He sighed. He had missed out on being with her, choosing to stay with a woman whom he had thought he cared about at the time, even when something in his heart kept whispering that she wasn't the one. He chuckled now. "The ironic thing was, and I know you would find this funny," he stated, closing his eyes for a moment. "There were several times that I called her by your name."

"Danny," came a soft voice, almost too soft that he hadn't been sure he hadn't just imagined it. Opening his eyes to look at her, he found himself looking into amethyst orbs that seemed to twinkle. "D-Did you really do that?" A smile broke out on his face as he nodded, moving quickly to wrap himself around her as his lips crashed upon hers. They clung to each other for what seemed like forever, their kiss one of love and passion, before a groan from behind him forced them to pull apart. Both glanced over to find Dean waking up, his arms stretched over his head as he groaned again. Sam chuckled, her hands reaching out to pull him down to her again. Just inches from her lips touching his she said, "I love you Danny." Dean smiled as the pair kissed again before standing up, phone in hand to call his wife and tell her the good news.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When the day of Tucker and Valerie's wedding came, the pair were happy to see their friends cuddling close together in the front seats, the pair smiling back at them as Danny's hand rested around the Goth woman's waist. They were planning their wedding for the following month, but hadn't said anything to the others since it was their day and all.

Danny had been concerned with Sam not wanting to stay in Amity, a worry that was put to rest when Sam announced that she would be opening her gallery in her hometown later that day. The halfa hadn't known about her gallery, but when Dean had shown him some of the pics that were shown on the Goth's online site, he had been quite surprised as to what the Goth had painted. They were all paintings of their town, of all the ghosts that they had fought over the years and even some of him in said battles. Several of them were going for $100 while he found that she even had sold some at $10,000 a pop. Her business was thriving and so with all those funds, most of which she sent to charity, the Goth wasn't dependent on the family fortune and free to be her own person without her parents holding that over her head. All in all, their life was their own to do as they wish. Danny had his love, the woman that would help them fight ghosts, and Sam had her long time love and her artwork.

"Do you, Tucker Foley, take Valerie Grey to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, thru sickness and health..."


End file.
